William Henry Beecher, son of the Reverend Lyman Beecher and Roxana Foote Beecher of Litchfield, Connecticut, probably attended the Litchfield Female Academy around the year 1817. As a young man he apprenticed as a cabinetmaker in Hartford and New Milford, Connecticut, as well as New York, New York. William later attended Andover Theological Seminary and received an honorary Masters degree from Yale College. In 1830 he became a licensed preacher. His first position as minister was in Newport, Rhode Island. William then worked at various churched in Middletown, Connecticut; Putnam, Ohio; Batavia, New York; Euclid, Ohio; and North Brookfield, Massachusetts. After settling in North Brookfield William remained with the same congregation for nearly two decades. William married Katherine Edes of ...Boston, Massachusetts, on May 12, 1830 and they had six children. After the death of Katherine in 1870 William retired, and moved to Chicago, Illinois to live with his daughters. William passed away in 1889.[more][less]

The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.

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